by ELAINE MANDRONA
Intuitively, feel yourself drawn to a particular spot—a place in the woods, a corner on a city street, a sandy inlet on the shore. Stop, look closely, look all around, 360 degrees. Write down your experience in 100 words or less. This is micro-tourism—appreciating an environment on a smaller scale, being in the moment, really looking at what is right before you, and seeing what is special, unusual or beautiful about it, and then sharing that experience. Everything changes all the time, so no two micro-tourism events are the same. Time of day, time of year, weather, light, the presence or absence of people, sounds, smells, colors, textures, make each experience unique.
Micro-tourism destination Moncton, NB, Walking trail near Ida St.
We go down to the Petitcodiac River on a face-stinging, windy Spring morning right near the new bridge to Riverview and walk under it where a few graffiti artists have made their marks. The sky is a bright, fresh spring blue, cyan. We walk down to a rusty orange footbridge that goes across a muddy brown tributary in an arc. A study in shades of brown. Ric-rac rails. The ends are under construction–the boardwalk will connect here. We can`t go across. Tide’s in, gentle ripples in the water. Some tentative bird calls. Sparkles in the distance. Bent grasses in patterns with the last of the snow. Footprint and vehicle patterns in the frozen mud underfoot. Birds making their songs heard above low pitched traffic noise. Any day now the sun’s heat will come.
